So Why The Panic?
In contrast to this positive view, the public conversation about AI is presently shot through with hysterical fear and paranoia.
We hear claims that AI will variously kill us all, ruin our society, take all our jobs, cause crippling inequality, and enable bad people to do awful things.
What explains this divergence in potential outcomes from near utopia to horrifying dystopia?
Historically, every new technology that matters, from electric lighting to automobiles to radio to the Internet, has sparked a moral panic – a social contagion that convinces people the new technology is going to destroy the world, or society, or both. The fine folks at Pessimists Archive have documented these technology-driven moral panics over the decades; their history makes the pattern vividly clear. It turns out this present panic is not even the first for AI.
Now, it is certainly the case that many new technologies have led to bad outcomes – often the same technologies that have been otherwise enormously beneficial to our welfare. So it’s not that the mere existence of a moral panic means there is nothing to be concerned about.
But a moral panic is by its very nature irrational – it takes what may be a legitimate concern and inflates it into a level of hysteria that ironically makes it harder to confront actually serious concerns.
And wow do we have a full-blown moral panic about AI right now.
This moral panic is already being used as a motivating force by a variety of actors to demand policy action – new AI restrictions, regulations, and laws. These actors, who are making extremely dramatic public statements about the dangers of AI – feeding on and further inflaming moral panic – all present themselves as selfless champions of the public good.
But are they?
And are they right or wrong?
@delieberman Ppl are only hating netyanahu because he’s genociding a race of humans. And Jewish people, such as yourself, don’t seem to acknowledge what we learned from the holocaust: genocide is bad. Condemn and arrest the perpetrators.
@SenJackyRosen You visit a genocide memorial
Yet do you learn?
Stand up to Netyanahu conducting a genocide ?
Otherwise what is the purpose of blabbering ?
Demonstrate learning and growth
@davidr199373504 lol it’s because of comments like this instead of condemning genocide that Netanyahu is perpetrating that you’re receiving hate. Also what do you mean by nazi here? Netyanhu is committing genocide by killing another race. Thats not happening in America.